Scientists have discovered a rocky planet potentially habitable by its distance from its star, only 25 light-years away. However, due to the hostile radiative winds from its host star, it remains unclear whether this new exoplanet supports an atmosphere or even the possibility of life.

According to Space website, Paul Robertson of the University of California, Irvine, said: "This is an exciting discovery; it's one of our closest cosmic neighbors... 25 light-years may seem like a long distance, but the Milky Way galaxy has a diameter of about 100,000 light-years, so from that perspective, it’s our closest neighbor."

Details on the discovery of life potential on the planet

The planet, named GJ 3378b, orbits a faint red dwarf star in the constellation of Camelopardalis, which was first discovered in 2024 by French astronomers using the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope at Mauna Kea. However, American astronomers have reviewed these initial findings, revealing that the planet may be closer to Earth than we thought.

All we know for sure is the mass and orbit of GJ 3378b; we don't yet know if it's similar to Earth – whether it has land, sea, clouds, and life, or if it’s a barren world with no atmosphere and filled with craters.

GJ 3378b was observed through its star's gravitational pull, causing the star to wobble around their common center of mass. This wobble is revealed by a Doppler shift in the star's light, which can be measured from its spectrum – the wavelengths of light it emits.